Why are bus fares going up?

Shortly after King County Metro announced bus fares would be going up by a quarter on March 1 (one-zone fares: $1.50 off-peak, $1.75 peak), my colleagues engaged in some casual speculation about what benefits we'll experience as transit riders. Would service improve? Would there be new routes?

Nope, so sorry. The reason can be found in this County background paper, which mentions:

Metro's revenues have not kept pace with inflation... The fare increase would raise $11.7 million in additional revenues annually, and allow Metro to maintain and improve the reliability, dependability and predictability of its system.

...

A 25-cent increase in fares also would enable Metro to move closer to the county’s target of recovering 25 percent of transit costs from the farebox to achieve greater financial stability, and to match neighboring transit agencies’ fares -- which is important as the region continues moving toward a single regional transit pass system.

In other words, fares are going up so the agency can tread water performance-wise, the bottom line will be better, and because it's what other agencies are charging.

I think Metro is under the misapprehension that transit is a profitmaking business.

But Metro is not a business. It has a monopoly in its service area, there is no need to see other agencies' price moves as market-leader signals.

Public transit is public precisely because its characteristics mean it cannot be delivered privately. Transit could be funded solely from the County's operating budget and operated fare-free -- and should be.